Murdoch Hails Modi As 'Best Leader Since Independence'

In what will certainly floor Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 84-year-old media Baron Rupert Murdoch on Friday called him the "best leader with (the) best policies since independence," with a massive task of ahead of him in a "most complex nation".

In New York, PM Modi was meeting the top executives of key media and communication companies and discussing the latest trends in the field and opportunities with respect to India.

Great hour with Indian PM Modi. Best leader with best policies since independence, but massive task to achieve in most complex nation.

All the media companies asked for a speedier digitisation of the Indian infrastructure as “India was the biggest market for them in terms of the phenomenal growth of the entertainment channels, as the youth in the country wanted more such content", said MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup.

The CEOs who attended the meeting included News Corp's Murdoch, Sony Entertainment's Michael Lynton, and Discovery Communications' David Zaslav.

Earlier on Friday, PM Modi had said that his government had some concrete targets such as creating 50 million new houses by 2022, bringing broadband connectivity to 6,00,000 villages, doubling railway capacity and generating 175 Gigawatts of renewable energy, each of which would create huge investment opportunities.